GFF College Dining Survey submitted December 2022 (Scroll for multiple responses)
Describe your food restrictions by checking all relevant boxes
Celiac Disease, Other (describe below)
Grade your college on feeding students with your food restrictions
A
Explain your rationale for that grade
Celiac safe
Food Service Vendor (if known)
Bon Appetit
What stage are you in college?
Senior
How many years ago were you diagnosed with food allergies or celiac disease?
5+
Please use this space to provide details that would help us better understand your food restrictions. Include your reaction if exposed to the foods you are avoiding. Please mention if you carry an epi-pen.
Lactose intolerant
If you indicated that you have celiac disease or are gluten intolerant, how sensitive are you to gluten?
Extremely: React to even small traces
Does your college handle food restrictions as you expected they would when you selected your school?
Totally yes, was what I expected
Check all boxes that apply to your college experience
My school has only a few dining halls, Ability to feed me is fairly consistent across dining halls, I feel safe eating at any dining hall on campus, I have sufficient options at all of the dining halls, Ability to eat well was a small part of my college selection process, Ability to eat well was a critical part of my college selection process
Have you had a reaction from eating in your dining hall?YESDescribe each incident. How did your school respond?
Once at an event and once because the guy serving gave me the wrong thing off the buffet line and i didn’t notice.
Please describe your meal plan for each year there so far. Include if your school required any of these decisions. If you are eating in a greek house or other club type arrangement include that as well.
Unlimited meal plan but I also have a kitchen and cook
Did you register your food restrictions with your students disabilities office for accommodations? If yes, describe.
yes, i have accommodations if they get me sick and it interrupts my school work but I’ve never had to use them because I just talk to professors directly and they’re all nice.
Are there resources (nutritionists, chefs, peer support groups) to help ensure you are receiving safe nutritious food? If yes, describe.
the dining hall chefs would talk to you if you asked i don’t know what else is available
If you were in charge of your school's dining, what changes would you implement to better feed students with your food restrictions? Would your school be open to these suggestions?
There could be some simple switches like to corn tortillas at the taco bar or other things like that to avoid cross contamination. i have asked about that before and they haven’t but they’re pretty good overall.
Describe your biggest challenge with managing your food restrictions at college and how you deal with it
i also don’t eat red meat so my options are limited
Did your food restrictions impact your housing decision? How? Is there a certain dorm you recommend for those with food restrictions? Why?
yes i wanted a kitchen to cook
What's your advice for managing the dining halls with your food restrictions? Favorite dining hall(s)? Any dining halls to avoid?
it has changed over covid, mcewen used to be all gluten free but isn’t anymore. It does have more options for vegetarians. I can eat at both dining halls on campus safely.
What's your advice for eating in the dorm with your food restrictions? Favorite snacks? Places that deliver?
I eat a lot of hummus
What do you recommend new students with food restrictions do before school starts? Or when they first arrive?
ask around if you want advice everyone is very nice. talk to chefs in the dining hall if you’re uncomfortable and use your best judgment with cross contamination
What's your advice on managing the party scene with your food restrictions?
google what’s in drinks, don’t drink beer, vodka and gin are usually the safest
Grade your college town area for feeding people with your food restrictions
A
Explain your grade. What are your favorite places to eat in town or foodshop?
city cafe (all gluten free restaurant and bakery), mitsuba ramen, mitsuba sushi, taj mahal, minar, peters cornicopia, açaí bowl places. for shopping: hannafords, peters cornicopia
Anything else you would like to add?
i feel very safe eating at hamilton
GFF College DIning Survey submitted March 2019
Food Service Vendor?
Bon Appetite
What stage are you in college?
Recent Graduate
Please describe your meal plan for each year there so far.
unlimited meal plan all four years. Was only required freshman year, but they mandated living on campus.
How many years ago were you diagnosed with celiac?
5+
How sensitive to gluten are you?
Extremely: React to even small traces
How would you describe the worst reaction you have had since diagnosis?
Really bad
Does your college handle celiac food restrictions as you expected they would when you selected your school?
Mostly what I expected
Grade your college on feeding celiac students
A-
Explain your rationale for that grade
I was diagnosed freshman year, they initially had NOTHING to eat. I worked with them and they were very responsive about increasing options, improving the labeling system, and creating an audit system to ensure proper labels. By the time I graduated a few years ago, they had an entire GF section of the dining hall.
Check all that apply
My school is small and has only a few dining halls, Ability to feed me varies somewhat across dining halls, I feel comfortable eating at any dining hall on campus, I frequent certain dining halls because they have more options although all are safe, I have great options at some of the dining halls
Did you register with your students disabilities office for accommodations? If yes, describe.
I did not. I simply met with the dean of students to work with the dining hall to recommend and implement changes.
Are there resources (nutritionists, chefs, peer support groups) to help ensure you are receiving safe nutritious food? Describe
Ad hoc meetings among students.
How many times have you been glutenized in your dining hall? If you didn't answer NONE, please explain what happened and how school responded.
More than 3. I notified the dining hall staff and they just apologized and tried to do their best to improve processes. I honestly could have pushed more to make them realize how bad it was.
Describe your biggest celiac challenge at college and how you manage it
Inconsistent options - which I dealt with by supplementing things I kept in my dorm room.
If you were in charge of dining, what changes would you implement to better feed celiac students? Would your school be open to these suggestions?
I would evaluate recipes for common allergens like gluten and adjust wherever possible to make things that can easily be adjusted to be GF friendly. My school was open to some of this and did do it on some occasions.
Did celiac impact your housing decision? How? Is there a certain dorm you recommend for celiacs? Why?
Yes - I requested to be given special access to dorms with private kitchens.
Your advice to new celiac kids for managing the dining halls? Favorite dining hall(s)?
Always be suspicious and advocate for yourself. Get creative!
Your advice to new celiac kids for eating in the dorm? Favorite snacks? Places that deliver?
Keep stuff in your dorm and avoid storing things in shared/non-private kitchens.
Your advice to new celiac kids on preparing before they come? Or doing upon first arrival?
Ask to be put in touch with current students with celiac
Your advice to new celiac kids on managing keg parties and alcohol scene?
Bring alcohol with you everywhere you go. Also bring snacks because late night eating is just as much a part of the culture as drinking! e.g., late night pizza delivery
Grade your college town area for celiac friendliness
B+
Favorite places to eat in town or foodshop?
Nola's, Giorgio's
Anything else you would like to add?
I actually don't remember having a bad contamination any time after freshman year, which was the rough point. As a result, I worked closely with them to develop an audit system for allergen labeling, so they got pretty good about it. One challenge was that sometimes the people serving the food don't really understand these issues, and to be frank, don't always have the education or wherewithal to ever get there. The "higher-ups" understood that. Sometimes I'd simply ask for a fresh batch or confirmation that something was safe whenever I was unsure. Maybe I was being overly safe but anything to make me feel better. I would say on initial look, Hamilton didn't seem to have as much as other schools with completely separate rooms. For example, Union and Williams had a large room with a separate fridge and would stock the cabinets with GF snacks. While this initially seems appealing, in my experience the schools with these separate areas are less likely to accommodate in the hot food lines because they think they have it "covered" with the allergen free room. However, eating boxed/frozen meals all the time is not sustainable for long-term nutrition. At Hamilton, they expressed the desire for a separate area but noted barriers due to the existing layouts. As a result, I think they were eager to overcompensate, hence the McEwen Dining Hall adjustments. One of the great things about a small school like Hamilton is I knew all of the chefs and managers. They would see me walking in the dining hall and immediately direct me to what I could eat. Oftentimes they'd make things special for me if I didn't like any of the available options or there weren't enough. There's a diner on campus that is really not gluten free friendly at the front on the grill. However, it was the only late night food available on campus. I got them to start reserving a grill out back so they could heat the GF bread for the burgers and such separately.
Prospective Parent: Before visiting Hamilton College, I spoke with Executive Chef, Derek Roy, and General Manager, Reuben Haag, from Hamilton's Bon Appetit food service. My teen is extremely sensitive and safe food is an important factor in our college search. Derek kindly met us in the McEwen Dining Hall on the "dark side" of campus (near the art center) to show us around. He recommended we eat at McEwen, as it's mostly gluten-free. We ate dinner and breakfast there and were very impressed with how Reuben and Derek had totally eliminated gluten ingredients from all McEwen's cooking stations and salad bar. It made it so much more relaxed to not have to worry about cross-contamination. Gluten was present in only limited areas like the sandwich bar. They even had an omelette station! They also only offer gluten-free soy sauce on campus to increase safe choices everywhere. Derek said that in the main dining hall, the Commons, they offer gluten-free sushi, and other choices but it requires more conscious decision making as there is more gluten present. We didn't venture there as it felt advanced for our first visit. McEwen is not open on the weekends. Hamilton's inclusive approach for handling food restrictions was consistent with the friendly feel of the campus. Bon Appetit's ability to manage food sensitivities varies greatly by school, and seem very dependent on the management at the particular site. Wish they would use Hamilton's McEwen Dining Hall as a model for their other schools.